Clay gtjn



Sept. 14, 1954 w. I. SMITH 2,689,121

CLAY GUN Filed Sept. 27, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet l g as W/Wfam 1 8/77/77) 6 7 Wi /am W. 1. SMITH Sept. 14, 1954 CLAY GUN 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 27, 1950 INVENTOR WWW/5m A Sm/fh Sept. 14, 1954 w. I. SMITH 2,689,121

CLAY GUN Filed Sept. 27, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 14 as 5.9 F 59 58 7 INVENTOR P 14, 1954 w. 1. SMITH 2,689,121

CLAY GUN Filed Sept. 27, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 59 INVENTOR W. l. SMITH Sept. 14, 1954 CLAY GUN 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 27, 1950 Patented Sept. 14, 1954 CLAY GUN William I. Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Salem-Brosius, Inc., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 27, 1950, Serial No. 187,115

4 Claims.

' a blast furnace the nozzle of the gun is introduced into the tapping hole at the conclusion of the cast and clay under pressure is forced throughthe nozzle into the tapping hole where the clay hardens and forms a stopper plug which holds the molten iron in the furnace until the succeeding cast when the clay plug is drilled out as well known to those skilled in the art.

It is very hot and working conditions are arduous adjacent the tapping hole of a blast furnace. Moreover, space is at a premium and it is desirable to avoid so far as possible concentration of equipment adjacent the tapping hole. To this end it has heretofore been proposed to dispose the clay compressing mechanism at a distance from the tapping hole and in effect pipe the plastic clay under pressure to the nozzle mounted adjacent the tapping hole for movement into and out of the hole. For example, it has been proposed to mount the nozzle of the clay gun at a furnace front above the tapping hole for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis downwardly and inwardly toward the furnace into the tapping hole. This provision has not proved satisfactory and so far as I am aware has not been commercially used.

- The tapping hole of the blast furnace extends somewhat downwardly from the outside to the inside of the furnace and is generally straight. When the nozzle is introduced into the tapping hole it should enter the hole in a direction gen erally along the axis of the hole. I have discovered how to mount the nozzle of a clay gun separately from the clay compressing means so that as the nozzle is moved into the hole it will enter the hole in a direction generally axially thereof to enable introduction into the hole of a plug of clay in such manner as to satisfactorily plug the hole.

I provide a clay gun comprising means for compressing clay, a nozzle mounted separately from the first mentioned means for movement into and out of a hole to be plugged with the compressed clay with the axis of the nozzle maintaining substantially fixed angularity to the horizontal and a connection for delivery of compressed clay from the first mentioned means to the nozzle. I desirably mount the nozzle on parallel motion mounting means for movement with substantially fixed orientation into and out of the hole. The connection for delivery of compressed clay from the compressing means to the nozzle may include a portion of the mounting means; in other words, I may employ parallel motion mounting means at least one element of which contains passage means for the clay for delivering the clay from the compressing means to the nozzle.

More specifically, I may provide a clay gun comprising means for compressing clay, a conduit connected with the first mentioned means receiving compressed clay therefrom, a second conduit swivelly connected with the first mentioned conduit receiving compressed clay therefrom, a nozzle swivelly connected with the second conduit receiving compressed clay therefrom and adapted to deliver the compressed clay into a hole to be plugged and means connected with the second conduit and the nozzle'maintaining the nozzle in fixed orientation upon swivelling of the second conduit relatively to the first mentioned conduit. The means for maintaining the nozzle in fixed orientation may be parallelogram means. The parallelogram means may include as one of its elements the second conduit. Means may be provided for shifting the parallelogram means to change the orientation of the nozzle. The parallelogram means may be maintained in desired adjusted angular positions to determine the orientation of the nozzle so that when the parallelogram means is operated the nozzle maintains desired fixed orientation.

In a preferred form of structure I provide a member parallel to the second conduit above referred to, a link linking said member to the second conduit coaxially with the swivel connection between the first mentioned conduit and the second conduit, means for maintaining said link in fixed orientation and a lever fastened to the nozzle and projecting parallel to the link from the swivel connection between the second conduit and the nozzle and of length equal to the link and pivotally connected with said member. I may fasten similar gears respectively to the second conduit and to said member coaxially with the connections between the link and the second conduit and said member and a pinion meshing with both of said gears. This provision distributes the stress to the various members of the mechanism carrying the nozzle when the nozzle is moved into and out of the hole.

Desirably the conduit receiving compressed clay from the clay compressing means has a fixed axis and the second conduit is swivelly connected with the first mentioned conduit while the nozzle is swivelly connected with the second conduit about an axis parallel to the axis of the swivel connection between the second conduit and the first mentioned conduit. A mounting member may be provided which is mounted for pivotal movement about the fixed axis of the first mentioned conduit and means may be provided for shifting the mounting member in adjusted positions. Desirably an operating member is pivoted to the mounting member about an axis parallel to the fixed axis of the first mentioned conduit, the operating member extending parallel to the second conduit, and a lever is fastened to the nozzle and pivoted to the operating member to form a parallelogram mounting for the nozzle insuring maintenance of the nozzle with fixed orientation during swivelling of the second conduit relatively to the first mentioned conduit.

I desirably employ means including gear means for operating the parallel motion mounting means to move the nozzle into and out of a hole to be plugged. I may utilize a gear fastened to one of the elements of the parallel motion mounting means coaxial with the axis about which said element turns, a pivoted gear segment meshing with said first mentioned gear and means for turning the segment through a predetermined angle about its pivot for operating the parallel motion mounting means to move the nozzle into and out of a hole to be plugged.

My clay gun preferably comprises a turnable shaft, a plurality of arms fastened to said shaft and projecting therefrom and a nozzle carried by said arms, at least a portion of said shaft and at least one of said arms having therein passage means communicating with the nozzle for delivery of clay under pressure to plug a hole into which the nozzle is moved upon turning of said shaft. The arms may carry a countershaft which may in turn carry the nozzle, one of the arms and the countershaft having therein passage means communicating with the nozzle for delivery of clay. The countershaft may be turnable in the arms which carry it. Parallel motion means may be provided connecting the first mentioned shaft and the countershaft insuring maintenance of the nozzle with fixed orientation upon turning of the first mentioned shaft.

My clay gun desirably has a conduit communicating with the nozzle for deliverying thereto clay under pressure and a plurality of clay compressing devices disposed in side-by-side relationship for forcing clay under pressure into the conduit. At the same time the nozzle is preferably mounted so that movement thereof relatively to the conduit into and out of a hole to be plugged is permitted, desirably while maintaining the nozzle in fixed orientation as by the use of parallelogram mounting means as described above.

Other details, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description of a present preferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a present preferred embodiment of the invention in which Figure 1 is a view showing in cross section in a plane defined by the axis of the furnace and the axis of the tapping hole a portion of a blast furnace and showing diagrammatically in side elevation a clay gun for plugging the tapping hole of the blast furnace;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the clay gun in plan and two of the furnace columns in horizontal cross section;

Figure 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the clay gun;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary crosssectional view through the clay gun taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view through a portion of the clay gun including the nozzle thereof taken on the line V-V of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view partly in plan and partly in horizontal cross section showing a portion of the mechanism of the clay gun;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line VIIVII of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line VIII-VIII of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line IXIX of Figure 7;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line X-X of Figure '7;

Figure 11 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal cross section showing the clay compressing mechanism;

Figure 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line XII--XII of Figure 11;

Figure 13 is an end elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 12 as viewed from the right-hand end thereof; and

Figure 14 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing a joint between two relatively swivelly movable portions of the apparatus.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, Figure 1 shows in fragmentary cross section in a plane defined by the furnace axis and the axis of the tapping hole a blast furnace designated generally by reference numeral 2 having a tapping hole or iron notch 3. The structure of the blast furnace does not constitute my invention and the blast furnace may be of conventional construction. It has a hearth 2a, a bosh 2b, a hearth jacket 20, hearth bands 2d, bosh bands 2e and the other elements of a conventional blast furnace. The furnace is supported by furnace columns 2f spaced about the furnace as well known in the art. The tapping hole 3 is disposed intermediate furnace columns. In front of the tapping hole in the cast house floor is an iron runner designated generally by reference numeral 4 terminating at the furnace end in the usual tapping hole slab 4a having therein a hole 4b through which the nozzle of the clay gun projects when in operative position. The hearth jacket 20 has therein a hole 29 in line with the hole 4b in the tapping hole slab and also in line with the tapping hole 3. When the tapping hole 3 is plugged with clay the hole 2g in the hearth jacket 20 is also filled with clay and the annular portion of the hole 2g outside the periphery of the outer end of the tapping hole is ordinarily kept filled with clay even when the tapping hole is opened to cast the furnace. That clay serves as a seat for the nozzle when the nozzle is inserted into the tapping hole to plug the tapping hole.

The tapping hole 3 extends from the outside of the wall of the blast furnace inwardly at an angle inclined somewhat downwardly as shown in Figure 1. When the tapping hole is open during casting of the blast-furnace molten iron from within the furnace flows out through the tapping hole into the iron runner 4 and thence to a ladle, pig machine or casting bed as the case may be. Between casts the tapping hole 3 is plugged with clay forced into the tapping hole under pressure by the clay gun. V

The clay gun is mounted on a pedestal 5 bolted by bolts 5a to a concrete foundation or base 512, shims 50 being interposed between the bottom of the pedestal 5 and the top of the base 5b to provide for adjustment of the elevation of the pedestal. The pedestal includes spaced uprights 6 carrying at their upper ends coaxial roller bearings in which is mounted for rotation a shaft designated generally by reference numeral 8. The shaft 8 comprises a solid shaft portion 9 and a hollow shaft portion |'0. tion 9 has a reduced extension H which enters the end of the hollow shaft portion ID, a pin |2 passing through the shaft portions 9 and I!) maintaining them against relative movement inany direction. The shaft portions 9 and H) may also be welded together as shown at l3. A two-way roller thrust bearing I4 is applied to the shaft portion Ill.

The shaft 8 carries a pair of arms l5 and I6 which have hubs H and I8 respectively through which the shaft passes and which are welded to the shaft as shown at H]. Both of the arms l5 and I6 are hollow but the space within the arm I 6 has no function. The space or passage within the arm l5 has a function to be presently de' scribed.

The arms l5 and I6 extend parallel to each other and have at their outer ends hubs 2B and 2! respectively in which is rotatably carried a hollow countershaft 22. The hollow countershaft 22 has therein an opening 23 communicating with the passage in the arm l5 when the nozzle presently to be described is in operative position adjacent the tapping hole 34'.

A nozzle designated generally by reference numeral 24 is carried by the countershaft 22. The nozzle has a tapered end portion 25 for entering the tapping hole and a curved neck 26. It has an opening 21 in line with the portion 25 which is normally closed by a cap 28. At the end of the curved neck 26 of the nozzle it receives the countershaft 22, a cap 29 being fastened thereon by bolts 30. Keys 3| positively hold the nozzle against turning relatively to the countershaft 22.

Pinned to the ends of the countershaft 22 by pins 32 are caps 33 from each of which extends a lever 34. Pivoted to each lever 34 at 35 is an operating member 36 extending parallel to the arms l5 and I6.

Keyed to the shaft 8 by keys 3? are gears 36, each having teeth 39 and laterally projecting bearing portions 40. A link-like mounting member 4| is journaled on the laterally projecting bearing portion 40 of each of the gears 38. The members 4| extend parallel to each other, each having journaled therein a stub shaft 42 which is received by and keyed to the upper end of the corresponding operating member 36. Keyed to each stub shaft 42 by a key 43 is a gear 44 having teeth 45 and laterally projecting bearing portions 46 on which is journaled the corresponding member 4|. The gears 38 and 44 are identical as to pitch, diameter and number of teeth. Each of the members 4| has journaled therein a stub shaft 41 having keyed thereto by a key 48 a pinion or intermediate gear 49 having teeth 50 meshing with the teeth of the gears 38 and 44. Thus the pinion 49 constrains the gears 38 and 44 to turn The solid shaft porin the same direction in equal amounts when either of them is turned about its axis. Since the gears 38 are keyed to the shaft 8 and the arms l5 and I6 are welded to that shaft while the gears 44 are keyed to the respective shafts 42 which are in turn keyed to the respective operating members 36 it follows that when the shaft 8 is turned the operating members 36 will at all times maintain parallelism with the arms l5 and |6 and the stress will be distributed to and through the operating members 35. Since the levers 34 are fastened to the nozzle 25 through the countershaft 22 and are pivoted to the respective operating members 36 at 35 a parallelogram mounting mechanism for the nozzle is formed. When the shaft 6 is turned the nozzle maintains uniform orientation or inclination.

Each of the members 4| has ears 5| each con taining a hole 52, the holes 52 lying opposite a slot 53 in the supporting mechanism, there being two such slots, one for cooperation with each of the members 4|. Bolts pass through the holes 52 and the slots 53 to maintain the members 4| in desired adjusted angular position about the fixed axis of the shaft '8. The angularity of the members 4| about the axis of the shaft 8 determines the orientation or angularity to the horizontal of the axis of the nozzle. The members 4| should be adjustably positioned so that the axis of the nozzle is substantially parallel to the axis of the tapping hole. While the nozzle does not move exactly axially into the tapping hole its movement is close enough to an axial movement to enable positioning of the nozzle well into the tapping hole to deliver an efiective plug of clay.

Each of the members 4| also has a projection 54 which lies between two nuts 55 welded to the corresponding frame portion and adapted to receive bolts to engage the upper and lower surfaces of the projections 54 to assist in maintaining the members 4| in desired adjusted position and also to facilitate accurate adjustment thereof.

In Figure 1 the nozzle is shown in full lines in the tapping hole and in chain lines in retracted position above the tapping hole at the furnace front. When the furnace is to be cast the nozzle is swung up to the chain line position of Figure 1 so as to be out of the way. It does not lose its orientation in the movement.

Keyed to the end of the shaft 8 and maintained in place thereon by a plate 56 is a pinion 5'! for rotating the shaft 8. Trunnioned in the supporting mechanism at 5B is a gear segment 59 meshing with the pinion 5T. Pivoted to the gear segment 59 at 6B is a rod 6| operated by any suitable source of power, as, for example,- a piston operating in a cylinder 6|a pivotally mounted on the pedestal at 6|b, for turning the segment 59 about its trunnions 58 to turn the pinion 5'! and through it the shaft 8. In this way the nozzle is moved between its operative position as shown in solid lines at the bottom of Figure 1 and its inoperative position as shown in chain lines at the top of Figure l.

The mechanism for compressing the clay is shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13. There is provided a conduit 62 to which are connected in side-by-side relation at right angles to the conduit two compressing devices, each designated generally by reference numeral 63 and comprising a clay receiving hopper 64 and a cylinder 55 in which operates a piston 66. Each of the clay receiving hoppers 64 communicates with the The piston.

The clay compressing mechanism shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13 is mounted in a stationary position and due to the nature of the mechanism may be disposed at any desired location within or even outside the cast house. The clay is delivered through the conduit 62 and through a pipe or conduit connected with the discharge end thereof to the left-hand or hollow end of the shaft 8 viewing Figure 4. Figure 14 shows a connection which may be employed between the conduit which delivers the clay from the clay compressing mechanism and which is stationarily mounted and the shaft 8 which turns relatively thereto. The stationarily mounted conduit which is designated H and which is connected to the lower end of the conduit 62 viewing Figure 11 has at its extremity a flange 12 having bolt holes 13. A collar 14 slides over the end of the shaft 8, a bushing 15 which may be of cast iron being provided. The end of the pipe 8 is slightly reduced in outside diameter as shown at 16 and has near its extremity an annular groove 11. The collar 14 closely embraces the reduced end portion 16 of the shaft 8 at 18 and then is stepped outwardly successively at 19 and 80.

In assembling the structure shown in Figure 14 the collar 14 is first slid back to the right on the shaft 8 and a split ring 82 is set in place in the groove 11. Then the collar I4 is moved toward the left to embrace the split ring 82, the gasket 80 is applied and bolts 8| are used to bolt the collar 14 to the flange 12. This mechanism holds the conduit H and the shaft 8 in fixed axial position while permitting relative rotation therebetween.

The plastic clay forced by the pistons 66 through the conduits 62 and H enters the hollow portion of the shaft 8 and is forced therethrough and through the hollow arm l5 into the hollow countershaft 22 and thence into and through the nozzle 24 and into the tapping hole. The clay compressing mechanism may be disposed at any desired distance from the tapping hole. The nozzle effectively enters the tapping hole by reason of the parallelogram mounting mechanism therefor, the clay being delivered through the arm I5 which is one of the elements of the parallelogram mounting mechanism.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A clay gun comprising means for compressing clay, a conduit connected with the first mentioned means receiving compressed clay therefrom, a second conduit swivelly connected with the first mentioned conduit receiving compressed clay therefrom, a nozzle swivelly connected with the second conduit receiving compressed clay therefrom and adapted to deliver the compressed clav into a hole to be plugged, a member parallel to the second conduit, a link linking said member to the second conduit coaxially with the swivel connection between the first mentioned conduit and the second conduit, means for maintainin said link in fixed orientation, a lever fastened to the nozzle and projecting Parallel to the link from the swivel connection between the second conduit and the nozzle and of length equal to the link and pivotally connected with said member, similar gears fastened respectively to the second conduit and to said member coaxially with the connections between the link and the second conduit and said member and a pinion meshing with both of said gears.

2. A clay gun comprising means for compressing clay, a conduit connected with the first mentioned means receiving compressed clay therefrom, said conduit having a fixed axis, a second conduit connected with the first mentioned conduit to swivel about said axis receiving compressed clay therefrom, a nozzle connected with the second conduit to swivel about an axis parallel to said first mentioned axis, the nozzle-receiving compressed clay from the second conduit for delivery into a hole to be plugged, an operating member mounted for turning movement about a fixed axis parallel to said first mentioned axis, the operating member extending parallel to the second conduit, a lever fastened to the nozzle and pivoted to the operating member to form a parallelogram mounting for the nozzle insuring maintenance of the nozzle with fixed orientation during swivelling of the second conduit relatively to the first mentioned conduit, similar gears fastened respectively to the second conduit coaxial with the first mentioned axis and to the operating member coaxial with the fixed axis about which the operating member is mounted for turning movement and an intermediate gear meshing with both of said similar gears.

3. A clay gun comprising means for compressing clay, a conduit connected with the first mentioned means receiving compressed clay therefrom, said conduit having a fixed axis, a second conduit connected with the first mentioned conduit to swivel about said axis receiving compressed clay therefrom, a nozzle connected with the second conduit to swivel about an axis parallel to said first mentioned axis, the nozzle receiving compressed clay from the second conduit for delivery into a hole to be plugged, an operating member mounted for turning movement about a fixed axis parallel to said first mentioned axis, the operating member extending parallel to the second conduit, a lever fastened to the nozzle and pivoted to the operating member to form a parallelogram mounting for the nozzle insuring maintenance of the nozzle with fixed orientation during swivelling of the second conduit relatively to the first mentioned conduit, similar gears fastened respectively to the second conduit coaxial with the first mentioned axis and to the operating member coaxial with the fixed axis about which the operating member is mounted for turning movement, an intermediate gear meshing with both of said similar gears and means including a turnable gear segment to swivel the second conduit relatively to the first mentioned conduit.

4. A clay gun comprising a clay compressor, a turnable shaft, a plurality of arms fastened to said shaft and projecting therefrom, a countershaft carried by said arms and turnable in said arms, a nozzle carried by said countershatt, a

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 894,813 Buzzell et al. Aug. 4, 1908 1,013,153 Gerwig Jan. 2, 1912 Number Number Name Date Whitehouse June 21, 1921 Haarmann Dec. 20, 1921 Bersted Mar. 10, 1925 Bodfish Feb. 23, 1926 Brosius Aug. 2, 1927 Morris May 21, 1929 Johnston, Jr. Oct. 6, 1931 Giese, Jr. Oct. 11, 1932 Larson Sept. 12, 1933 Giese, Jr. Feb. 5, 1935 Bramsen et a1. Apr. 2, 1940 Schweitzer Apr. 4, 1944 Cunningham Mar. 2, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Feb. 23, 1935 

